ITA Town Hall – Helpful Scenarios and Other Mini-Discussions
Today, I attended the Israel Translators Association Town Hall event.
It was really great to see a lot of other Israeli translators online together for the first time in a long while. Apologies to the few that could not log in...
Our thanks to Miryam Blum for agreeing to dive into sharing her business go-tos on diversification, keeping a range of private and large clients, producing affidavits, writing serious email communications, and networking with colleagues. Miryam also opened up on post-editing assignments received as translations from Open AI, as part of her diversification, which opened up to the participants - you get what you pay for and, of course, it's in the public domain (read the small print on privacy!). Naturally, we as professionals are all aware of that, but our clients, apparently, are not!
A shout-out also, to those who asked questions, raised other issues and brought their own experiences into the conversation - from Japanese translator Einat Cooper to Michal Stern and Miriam Deutscher.
There was a question about tariffs and the law, with able responses from Eliezer Nowodworski and Perry Zamek. A number of us also shared on contending with cut-rate and non-professional competitors where quality is not the consideration and we are competing with countries with a very low standard of living.
We addressed issues with CAT tools and AI. Eliezer Nowodworski and Lior offered insights into why experiences with Trados can be trying, due to multiple tiers of versions and their compatibility issues with OS upgrades, and what other translators prefer. Some members work on huge industrial or tech translations and updates, where pricing is a pain and even updates involve far more than the 850 words that the CAT tool describes as "requiring translation". A translator is not just responsible for those 850 words, the job involves understanding of context, adjusting register, surrounding syntax and possibly collocations, too. We need to stand up for doing the job right, because minimalistic approaches do not ensure work that is fit for purpose.
Members can email the Israel Translators Association or contact us if they were unable to attend and we will supply a link to the recording.